Chapter 25

Whilst the war is waging in both Magical City and Moniyan Empire, the group that has been sent to retrieve the already saved young mages from the Enchanted Forest is now stuck inside the magical world. And just like how the team of Harley, they are also going through a lot of battles.

Dexter is currently sitting by the shoulder of his master, Claude. Its tongue hanging out from its mouth and is breathing raggedly.

"Damn it!" Claude curses, also trying to catch his breath while hiding away from the sight of waves of walking mummies with shining ruby eyes. "When will this freaking tag game end?!"

"We've got to find the exit, they won't stop coming," Gord states, standing opposite from Claude. "And we are even separated from the two."

The mummies are not much of a danger but dealing with them drains ones energy and it is a disadvantage for the team especially that two hours have already passed since they encountered these annoying creatures.

While they are dealing with the seemingly endless wave of mummies, Zilong and Freya are standing back to back, guarding each other's weak spot.

"Tell me, what did you see?" Freya asks, wanting to confirm if what she saw just a while ago is the same that Zilong has seen with his own eyes.

"A lion's tail," the general replies, unsure if it is truly a tail that belongs to a lion.

"I saw a snake," Freya debates. She has a doubt but her eyes has seen the snake that passed by at a lightning speed. "With the hooves of a deer."

Zilong never meant to offend the woman for he highly respects her as someone who has incredible strength and wisdom in wars. Yet her remark makes him snicker, his mind thinking that she is speaking nonsense.

"No offense intended but you seem have seen it in an amusing way," he responds which made Freya roll her eyes in annoyance. She hates it whenever she speaks with all due seriousness yet she would only be taken as nothing but a joke.

"I would very much like to see your head rolling next on the floor," she says with gritted teeth. If only they are not facing real danger as of the moment, she would not hesitate to turn and lunge at him with all she got.

Their conversation is interrupted when they hear faint and distant howls.

Yet with the maze-like construction of their whereabout makes the sound scattered, a reason why it is harder to locate where it is coming from. The two warriors, whose both armors and weapons gleamed gold under the scorching sun, heighten their senses to prepare for their defense and attack on the upcoming trouble. Their eyes wander around, scanning the vicinity and tracking where their enemy is.

"It is drawing closer," Freya mumbles, tightening her grip on both of her sword and shield. The howls of countless wolves are becoming louder... and louder.

With a blink of an eye, a shadow covers the two from the merciless heat of the sun.

"Above you!" Zilong states and before the hybrid monster could have a taste of him, he slides his spear at its slithering tongue upon dodging it. Yet with just one swing of its head, Zilong is thrown at the corner. As it screams in pain with the wailing cries of a pack of wolves, Freya uses that chance to attack as well.

She turns to her heels and lowers herself with the intention to cut its legs, its forelegs belonging to a leopard and its hind legs are that of a lion. But with a swing of her sword, the beast jumps off the ground as if it could read what Freya is planning to do.

"You are too slow," Zilong comments before throwing his spear right at it, leaving a trace of golden streak of light. But despite that, the monster still manages to dodge it by stepping down on the solid ground. And that being said, its forelegs, having the strength of a rock giant, it steps on Freya. With the experiences she has acquired from her countless battles, she uses her shield to protect herself from its direct attack. With the strong force, Freya slides back until her back felt the heated high walls of the maze.

"Shut up!" she yells with gritted teeth, narrowing her sight at the beast, yet it is directed at Zilong who simply shrugs at her outburst. But now that he is face to face with the monster, it does not only look weird with the unusual combination of a snake having hooves of a deer and half body of a leopard and lion. Its immense strength is also something to watch out for.

Summoning his spear that swiftly landed on his hand, he speaks, "Never have I fought against a monstrous beast like this one. Entering this forest is quite commendable."

Hearing his pumped up comment makes Freya shake her head and click her tongue at his attitude for it seems like he is not taking their situation in a serious way.

"Don't underestimate Questing Beasts, they may travel alone but their strength could kill a battalion of warriors. And not to mention their incredible speed," she states, wanting to warn him and keep his guard up.

"Ain't that a good reason to fight it with what we got?" he responds and with Freya's own two eyes, she is witnessing the general getting on fire, literally. Its golden armor seems to be aflame after its exposure under the blinding sun and his once dark eyes turned gold as well.

She scoffs, not wanting to be left behind. She is about to summon her ax yet the Questing beast comes at her at a fast speed, leaving her no choice but to dodge it by rolling over the ground, acquiring few scratches on her bare skin.

"Do excuse me," Zilong speaks who just jumped in midair like a falling star with his spear directed at the beast that is having a hard time to get out from the hole it just made on the wall. Freya clicks her tongue in annoyance for she feels like she ain't good enough to keep up with the general.

Before Zilong could land a hit on the beast, it immediately raises its hind legs and lands a kick at him, throwing him back where he came from but crashes on the wall that is covered with moss.

Zilong falls on his feet, no sign of pain at any part of his body. His gaze settles on Freya who is still glaring at him for a reason he does not know of.

"We should attack it together," he suggests and when he is sure that she is ready to attack, he nods at him before running towards the beast that is also planning to lunge at him.

With her faint golden wings appearing behind her and her sword and shield turning into a new for of weapon, Freya tightens her grip on her ax that is of the same color as her wings.

And in sync, the two generals attack the Questing beast with Zilong being in charge of the attack on land while Freya is in charge in midair attack.

Alarmed, the beast sways its head. Its hooves almost plunging into Freya's flesh if only she did not dodge by flying higher. On the other hand, the beast fails to hit Zilong with its forelegs. It howls louder than it had before that is deafening to the ears, making Zilong lower his guard for a while. He kneels on the ground, his hands covering his ears.

Though it is just a few seconds, it gives the Questing beast a chance to land a hit on him. Before Freya could inflict a serious wound on it, the beast strikes Zilong with its hooves.

"Die!"

Jets of blue blood shower Freya as her ax cuts the head off of the Questing beast, its hooves stained with blood from her colleague. The body of the beast shrivels until it slowly turn into dust, becoming one with the land of the Enchanted Forest.

Her wings vanish as her ax turns back into a sword and a shield. Her eyes dart to the direction where Zilong is thrown off to and the moment she sees him struggling to move with his hand pressing on his abdomen, she drops her weapons and runs towards him.

"Hold on," she states as she removes the hand of Zilong away from his wound and presses it herself to stop the blood from gushing out.

Instead of hearing a pained comment from him, Freya almost lands a jab on his face with what he said.

"A woman saving me at such crucial time hurts my pride," he jokes, his breathing becoming short.

"Just shut up, I'll heal you," Freya responds as her hand pressures the wound, making Zilong groan in pain.

"Do be more gentle, young lady," he pleads with his eyes shut as the wound takes it worst toll on him.

Freya closes her eyes, she focuses on summoning her godly powers to at least heal her comrade. But in order to summon such powers in a world of magic such as the Enchanted Forest, it will take up much of her energy and would risk her life. Her power as a goddess of war would be detected by the living magic forest and poses it as a threat. And to protect itself and the magical creatures living inside, it shall cancel the power of Freya.

Seeing her going paler as time ticks, Zilong holds her hands with his blood-stained ones and speaks up, "Stop, you have done enough."

Freya slaps his hand away, her eyes still shut.

"Do not speak such nonsense," she responds, "let me focus."

Zilong has acquired wounds deeper than the injury inflicted by the Questing beast and he still managed to survive. And today is not a different story, he will manage to find his younger sister and get out from the Enchanted Forest. He lifts his hand and flicks Freya's forehead for he knows too well that it shall tick her off.

And just the moment his finger lands on her forehead, Freya opens her eyes and without hesitation, she clenches her fist and landed a jab on the wall just beside Zilong's head.

"Is that supposed to be funny, general?" she asks with gritted teeth, hovering over the limp body of her colleague.

With the gentle wind blowing her golden hair towards her pretty face, Zilong lifts his hand and clips the locks of her hair behind her ear.

"You have done enough," he speaks.